Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Hunter attends a Montessori day care, and a few people have asked me about my personal experiences sending my child to a Montessori school. In a nutshell: It is by far
the best decision I could have made for him.

It is quite interesting to
me that Montessori schools are so rare in Brisbane because I have
met so many parents through MumClub who would love for their child to
be a Montessori student. It was in fact the most recent MumClub that
made me write this post, and compile a list of Montessori schools and
day care centres in Brisbane (at end of article).

Originally Hunter was attending a normal daycare,
one block away from home. The first day I left him there I cried because
it just didn’t feel right. The sounds of screaming kids and hysterical
toddlers filled me ears as my heart filled
with a cold leaden feeling. When I picked him up he seemed to be fine,
but was ravenous. The hunger continued every time he sent there. He
came home with bruises which the staff would say had been there the
whole time, which was definately not true. He came home with nappy rash, something
he had never previously had. Labelled clothes and shoes went missing.
Lunch boxes came home untouched. The setup was basically a white room
with cold lino floors and a handful of godawful electronic toys to play
with, as well as a concrete and astro turf outdoor play
area that would only be suitable for much older kiddies. Hunter would
sleep fitfully afterwards, and almost every week came home sick as a
dog.

At the time I kept telling myself it was all normal and to just let
go, but I could never fully relax. The women
who worked there couldn’t even remember his name, let alone mine.

After a few sessions I decided I didn’t feel
confident sending him there and in fact was feeling sick at the thought
of it. At about this same time I found a blog called How We Montessori
and was instantly interested in doing something similar
for Hunter. I discovered we lived very close to one of Brisbane’s rare
Montessori schools. I scheduled in a tour, after which I was so relieved
and impressed that I instantly signed Hunter up and told my existing
daycare to shove it. Happily my work let me
change my days to suit the only available spot, as this daycare has a
huge wait list.

I have never had a single regret.

The staff are more than attentive, they are loving
and gentle. Even when Hunter was bitten by another child a couple of
times at the centre they informed me thoroughly of what had happened and
worked with us to move Hunter into another
room. They keep me informed, they remember our family quirks and
preferences. When we were a bit behind in the fees they didn’t call me
up to harass me unlike the other daycare that would complain if there
was a public holiday delaying our bank transfer. They
report to me how Hunter is doing, and are always so encouraging.

But a good daycare isn’t measured by how they treat
the parents. It’s really all about how they treat the kids. Hunter
loves being told in the morning that today he gets to play with ”the
kids”. He gets dressed with no fuss and gets very
excited when we are finally in the car on our way. It isn’t just the
kids he loves, but the games and activities and even the furniture and
building fixtures.

The entire centre is designed to not just
accommodate him, but empower him. All the chairs and tables are his
height. A variety of interesting learning toys are on shelves that are
at his height, other size appropriate features include
a bathroom, kitchen and drink station that are all toddler scale. He
often shows me how he pours his own drink from the (toddler sized) water
cooler, and now he is using the mini-toilets, proud as punch!

The games and activities he plays are all designed
to help him become a capable little man, and he enjoys them in a big
way. Instead of masses of noisy electronic gizmo, Montessori toys are simple thoughtful objects, some abstract like blocks and puzzles, some real life like plants and realistic baby dolls. For example he loves to sweep and wash up. He loves being involved
in cooking dinner which I am sure stems from
the way the kids at Montessori school help make the meals. He cleans up
his mess. He follows instruction.

For what it’s worth the other kids all seem as
happy as Hunter. Unlike our first daycare experience, the kids play
calmly. Disputes are resolved by communication. Even the problem ‘biter’
was afforded special attention and is no longer
such a pain to play with. In the morning we see a couple of kids lose
their cool over mum and dad leaving them, but we also see those same
kids getting lots of cuddles and quickly being distracted with a calming
satisfying activity.

Hunter enjoys day-care and has bloomed under their guidance.

If you are considering Montessori for your kids,
call your closest centre right now and ask to go on a tour. If the other
centers are anything like mine, they will be more than happy to show
off their centre.

5 comments:

Hi Iliska Dreams,As far as I know the list in the article is complete, however Steiner schools are quite similar to Montessori- try http://steinereducation.edu.au/about/member-schools/ for more info.xSandi D

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